Lewis Hamilton romped to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to close in on a fourth world title after Sebastian Vettel retired with engine failure four laps in.
The Briton dominated from pole, steering his Mercedes to a crushing eighth win of the year, to stretch his Formula One championship lead over Vettel to 59 points with just 100 left to play for.
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Max Verstappen put in an majestic performance to finish second – a week after clinching victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old has endured a frustrating campaign, retiring from seven of the 16 races due to mechanical issues.
Starting from P5, the Dutchman caught Sebastian Vettel napping on the first lap and grabbed second place.
Although he pushed Hamilton for long spells of the race, the Mercedes driver had too much pace around the sweeping circuit at Suzuka.
With his team mate Daniel Ricciardo finishing third, it proved to be another successful weekend for Red Bull.
P1 last weekend, P2 at Suzuka 👏@Max33Verstappen is your #F1DriverOfTheDay!#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/MrLftPOkqC
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2017
Valtteri Bottas may have fallen short after starting from P2 on the grid, however his lap of of 1:33.144 on 50 proved to be the fastest of the day.
Kimi Raikonnen’s 1:33.175 on lap 50 was the second-fastest, with Daniel Ricciardo’s 1:33.694 on 52 third fastest as he pushed for second place.
Congrats, @ValtteriBottas 👏
DHL Fastest Lap Award winner at Suzuka 💨#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/2FXaXJ1yfp
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2017
After an impressive weekend in practice, Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire on lap 5 due to a spark plug failure.
He was passed by Verstappen, Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas in the first lap and was called in to retire on lap five.
That follows an engine issue a week ago in Malaysia which saw him start from the back of the grid and recover to fourth, and a first-corner crash in Singapore that left both Ferraris out of the race.
Hamilton, who started on pole alongside Vettel, cruised to victory to open a 59-point lead over his German rival with just four races remaining.
Seb’s not giving up yet 👊 #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/GG0V2ScCKF
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2017
Another fantastic performance from Pierre Gasly in just his second Grand Prix drive – finishing 13th.
The Toro Rosso driver looked solid in Suzuka as he held off the challenges of Pascal Wehrlein and Stoffel Vandoorne to finish just outside the points.
The Frenchman finished 14th on his F1 race debut in Malaysia last week, and has subsequently relinquished the chance to win the Super Formula title, with the final round in Japan clashing with the US Grand Prix later this month.
